Softball: Blast lifts Warriors past Lathrop

WASILLA — Wasilla was running out of time, but Hailey Hotchkiss came through for the Warriors.

Hotchkiss provided the go-ahead blast a two-run homer to lead the Warriors to a 6-5 win Railbelt Conference win over the Lathrop Malemutes Saturday at Wasilla High School.

Wasilla head coach Tyler Gilligan said the dramatic wins comes during a busy stretch of the season.

“We have games almost every night it seems like,” Gilligan said.

The win over the Malemutes came a day after a 12-11 loss to West Valley. The Wolfpack scored seven unanswered runs in that win. Gilligan said a lack of practice time has contributed to any struggles.

“We see the mistakes we’re making, but it’s very difficult to work on when we never have practice in between,” Gilligan said.

Lathrop led 5-2 before the Wasilla rally. Prior to the Hotchkiss homer, Jordan Malave doubled and scored on a wild pitch.

Five different Warriors had a hit for Wasilla. Malave led Wasilla with two runs.

Wasilla scored eight of its runs during the 12-11 loss to West Valley on Friday. Dani Gilbert and MacKenzie Moore scored two runs each.

Colony 4, Lathrop 2

Colony used three first-inning runs to score a 4-2 Railbelt victory over Lathrop May 3 at the Alcantra Fields in Wasilla.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.